Louise-Elisabeth, Marquise de Tourzel (1749 - 1830) A French aristocrat and courtier. She was the last governess to the royal children of Louis XVI of France and Marie Antoinette.

Louise-Elisabeth was born into a wealthy aristocratic family in the reign of Louis XV. She was married in 1766, at the age of seventeen, to the Marquis de Tourzel. They enjoyed a happy marriage for twenty years, in which Louise-Elisabeth bore six children. Her husband was killed in a hunting accident in 1786. The entire Tourzel family were devoted supporters of the French Monarchy, their personal motto being Faithful to God and to the King.

In 1789, after the fall of the Bastille, many members of the Queen's intimate circle were forced to flee abroad. Yolande, duchesse de Polignac, the queen's favourite companion and governess to the royal children, was forced to emigrate to Switzerland. Marie-Antoinette appointed Louise-Elisabeth de Tourzel to the vacant post of Royal Governess, with particular care for the Dauphin, Louis-Charles. The Marquise was advised to curb the Dauphin's fear of loud noises, particularly the barking of the many dogs at Versailles.

From this intimate position, the Marquise de Tourzel was able to watch the disintegration of the French Monarchy. She was placed under house arrest with the Royal Family in Paris in October, 1789. Her loyalty was strong, and she refused to leave them. She even accompanied them on their dangerous attempt to flee Paris for a royalist stronghold in Montmédy. This attempt failed and the entire party were dragged back to Paris by republicans.

After the abolition of the Monarchy in 1792, Tourzel was separated from the Royal Family and imprisoned in La Force. Also imprisoned at the same time were Tourzel's daughter, Pauline, and Marie-Antoinette's most loyal lady-in-waiting, the Princesse de Lamballe. Shortly after their imprisonment, the three women found themselves victims of the September Massacres, when thousands of prisoners were massacred by republicans. Tourzel and her daughter were smuggled out of the prison by a mysterious gentleman, but Lamballe was not so lucky. She was repeatedly raped and then savagely murdered.

In January 1793, Louis XVI was executed. In October, Queen Marie-Antoinette was also sent to the guillotine. Tourzel was devastated by their deaths, and she was equally shocked to hear of the death of little Louis-Charles in 1795. Several times over the coming decades, Tourzel was accosted by various men pretending to be "Louis XVII".

After the Restoration of the French Monarchy in 1814, Tourzel was made a duchess by a grateful King Charles X. She later published her memoirs, which are an invaluable historical account of the final days of the royal household. Her daughter, Pauline, became a lady-in-waiting to Marie-Antoinette's only surviving child, the Princess Royal.

IN FICTION

The Marquise has featured in several novels about the French Royal family, including Trianon, Madame Royale, Flaunting, Extravagant Queen and Louis XVI by Alexandre Dumas.

The character of the Marquise de Tourzel appeared in the 1955 French film Marie-Antoinette. More recently, she was portrayed on the Northern Irish stage in a monarchist production based on the life of Louis XVII. The author explains his motivation at http://www.angelfire.com/in3/theodore/opinion/articles/russell.html